Ararat escapee threatened to kill if returned to prison

A high-risk sex offender has threatened to escape again from the Victorian facility he recently left – or commit murder if returned to the nearby prison.

Sean Carmody-Coyle on Friday walked from Corella Place – a residential and transitional facility alongside Ararat Prison for sex offenders who have completed their sentences – armed with numerous weapons that included knives.

Carmody-Coyle was arrested about 24 hours later in Ararat with a ticket to travel to Melbourne.

He appeared on Monday before Judge Jane Campton who had put him on an extended supervision order 12 months ago for a period of five years.

Carmody-Coyle, who has mental health issues and was unrepresented at the County Court hearing, said he told police after his arrest he had the weapons for "survival" and to "protect myself".

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During a discussion between Judge Campton and prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, after Carmody-Coyle asked how long a sentence he might receive for escaping, he asked to be jailed.

"Don't put me back out at Corella or I'll take off again," he said from the dock. "Put me in Ararat, I'll be back in front of you for murder.

"Put me in Port Phillip (Prison) I'm happy."

Asked by Judge Campton why he left Corella Place, Carmody-Coyle referred to his birthday last November when he had an "outing" with his mother and he alleged a security officer threatened him in front of her.

"Put me in Ararat, I'll be back in front of you for murder."

"I was over it," he said, adding that electronic bracelets he wore were working at that time but were not when he left Corella Place.

"So, Friday morning I decided myself to do a bunk [escape]," he told Judge Campton.

Mr Rose told the court he had asked Carmody-Coyle if he had spoken to a legal aid lawyer before Monday's hearing and he responded that he wanted to represent himself

Mr Rose said Carmody-Coyle had left Corella Place and had broken off his bracelet, but it was uncertain if there was more than one, and was at large for 24 hours before his arrest.

A bail justice had remanded him to appear before Judge Campton who had dealt with him last year.

Mr Rose said Carmody-Coyle now faced charges of failing to comply with a supervision order and with possessing controlled weapons without an excuse.

Carmody-Coyle told Judge Campton he had "lost everything" while at Corella Place, that included his mother and his family.

Asked by Judge Campton if there were any other places other than Corella Place where people like Carmody-Coyle could be held, Mr Rose replied that because of the risk he posed there was nowhere other than that facility "or prison".

He said he was unsure whether he was now held at Port Phillip Prison or the Melbourne Remand Centre.

Carmody-Coyle said he would not go to the remand centre – "I'll punch on there," he threatened – before Judge Campton remanded him in custody until next month.